Eight Weeks to Go- TO A RELAXED, ORGANIZED CHRISTMAS

Wooo Hooo! It’s EIGHT WEEKS until Christmas!! (Actually a little less, life just got in the way of publishing this!) The countdown continues with your third week of tips to help you gently travel into the holidays.

On week ten you were encouraged to start writing out your Christmas gift lists. Week nine plans included a family meeting to make some decisions about the traditions and activities you and your family want to carry out together, and to make a start at organizing your calendar. It also included a reminder to make certain you have your tickets and reservations for Thanksgiving or Christmas travel. The “last weekend of October sales” were a reminder to start some Christmas shopping in stores or online. With these, you’re on your way toward an organized, relaxing Christmas!

If you haven’t been following along, it’s okay. You can go back to the links above, to get started, or jump in right where you are. We still haven’t had our family meeting, but it is on the agenda for this week.

WEEK EIGHT – TO AN ORGANIZED CHRISTMAS

Week eight in our countdown includes the first days of November, with the after Halloween candy clearance sales. 🙂 Check the clearance area in your grocery or pharmacy store. The candy will often be in carts and usually is at least half price. I’ve not known stores to do any additional markdowns for at least a month.

Pick up what you need to use for your holiday baking or to add to Christmas stockings. You’ll find some fine chocolate which can be used in place of chocolate chips or other chocolate in recipes like fudge and other homemade candies. The first week in November is also the start of sales on baking supplies. Now is a good time to check out the status of your baking supplies, so you can be ready for your Thanksgiving and Christmas baking. There will be sales on them through much of the month of November. You might want to pick up a few items on each trip to the grocery store. Several stores in my area are already having Baking Sales!

SUGGESTIONS:

START A NEW HABIT!

The kitchen is the heart of the home, so here is a task that will make it easier to keep it clean and your life more organized.

Clean off your kitchen counters. This is not an an all out crazy task, but a pretty simple one. Starting at the right side of your kitchen, clean off the counters. Move each item over to the side and wipe the counter down. Move it back into place. Do this all along each counter, making sure to clean each part, all the way to the back of the counter. You may find a few things that you no longer want sitting on your counter, so find a new home for these items. Your kitchen will look so much better.

HERE’S THE NEW HABIT: Each night wipe down the visible parts of your counter, putting things back into place, before you go to bed. If you do this every evening, it will become a habit and make your kitchen a happy place.

If you have extra time this week, shine your sink! This is a very rewarding task. Here are some simple instructions for shining your sink, courtesy of Fly Lady! It will make your kitchen beautiful, and help keep it clean too. Its such a wonderful feeling to walk into a spotless kitchen each morning. What a great start to the day!

DO THIS NOW!!

Make sure you have all necessary tickets for your Holiday travel and any other reservations.

Work on getting your Christmas gift lists filled out (see week one) If you don’t know, ask for ideas. You can’t go wrong when you get your ideas right from the source. Check to see what gifts you can buy this week. Order or pick up as many of those as you can. Be sure to mark them off your list and save the receipts in the envelope you have attached to the notebook. If you are ordering using sites like “Wish,” order those SOON, since I’m pretty sure that they come on a slow boat from China, BUT you will save a lot this way.

Obtain sizes for those on your list whom you will be giving any clothing or footwear to.

Update your calendar with the dates times and locations for special events and parties you will be attending. Be sure and include God in those plans – Contact your church if you don’t have the dates and times for any special services and activities.